Investment Ministerial Roundtable

Investment for sustainable development
Date
-
Event
Session Type
Conference
Interpretation
English / French / Spanish / Arabic/ Russian / Chinese
Room number
Hall 4 Room 12
18 October 2023
12:00 - 14:00 Abu Dhabi
Asia/Dubai

International investment is in a rocky period. After a long decade of virtual stagnation, global FDI flows fell steeply during the pandemic, then recovered rapidly but unevenly, and are today affected by multiple challenges and crises. There are pockets of solid growth, for example in infrastructure investment and renewables, but also pockets of stagnation, notably in several SDG-relevant investment sectors and in the poorer regions of the world. Now, halfway towards the 2030 target for the SDGs and with investment needs to reach the Paris climate goals ever more urgent, it is crucial for policymakers at the highest level to come together to identify policy options and solutions to boost investment where it is needed most.

The Investment Ministerial Roundtable will address all the key investment challenges caused by today’s multiple global crises, including the need to invest in food security, health systems, supply chain resilience and productive capacity growth in the poorest countries. A particular focus will be climate finance and investment and the energy transition.

The Roundtable will allow Ministers to share their views on national and international investment policy priorities and to exchange experiences on successful approaches for the mobilization of finance and the channeling of investment to areas and projects conducive to sustainable development, with a view to identifying replicable solutions and policy options. It will also provide an opportunity for dialogue on the most pressing challenges and obstacles to boosting international investment in the energy transition and sustainable infrastructure. The outcome, in the form of a summary by the co-chairs, will help shape the debate in other relevant intergovernmental processes, most notably COP28, which will take place only a month later in the UAE.

Session themes:

  • What are the key priorities for governments around the world in national and international investment policymaking in the coming years?
  • What are their recent experiences and lessons learned in investment policymaking for sustainable development?
  • What approaches are countries adopting specifically to stimulate international investment in the energy transition?

Speaker(s)

Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Secretary-General, African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Kingdom of Bahrain
Minister of Trade and Industry, Republic of Botswana
Minister of Industrial Development, Commerce, Artisanal Affairs and SMEs, Burkina Faso
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Energy, Cabo Verde
Minister Delegate in Charge of Planning, Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Cameroon
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Colombia
Minister of Foreign Trade, Republic of Costa Rica
State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Republic of Croatia
Secretary-General, D-8 Organization of Economic Cooperation
Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People, European Union
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications, Republic of Fiji
Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Islamic Republic of Iran
Minister of Trade and Integration, Republic of Kazakhstan
Minister for Trade, Industry, Manufacturing and Tourism, Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Minister of Investment, Industry and Entrepreneurship, Seychelles
State Minister of Investment Promotion, Sri Lanka
Chairman of the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management, Republic of Tajikistan
Minister of Finance and Economy, Turkmenistan
Minister of State (Minister for Investment), Department for Business and Trade, United Kingdom
President, United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Minister of Investment, Republic of Indonesia
Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China